Can technology make wrong calls a thing of the past? The NFL is hoping so.

A football field is 100 yards long, but games often come down to small battles over inches of gridiron real estate. The outcomes of these small battles often hinge on observations which, as all fans eventually learn, are prone to mistakes. Reuters is reporting that the NFL is investigating at least one technology that would remove some elements of human judgment from the game. According to the report, the league is in discussions with German location-mapping firm Cairos Technologies to implement their “chip-in-ball” technology to take the guesswork out of accurate ball placement.

Cairos has been pushing for the go-ahead to use their Goal Line Technology (GLT) in professional soccer (“fútbol” in European-speak) matches. The technology has been in development for over a decade and been utilized in several test runs. Around the soccer blogosphere, GLT has been the subject of vigorous debate among technophile soccer hooligans, but still has not given the official go-ahead from the soccer higher-ups. Now Cairos is setting their sites on other sporty avenues.

If the NFL deal works out, Cairos’ reported next deal is with Professional Figure Skating to develop a technology that will use digital cameras that have the ability to measure both sparkle and spunk (that last part’s not true!)